Consider the following configuration.
computer "a"
ip address: 172.16.100.100
subnet mask: 255.255.0.0
computer "b"
ip address: 172.16.200.200
subnet mask: /16
what should be done to allow these computers to send and receive data to and from each other?
a. nothing needs to be changed.
b. delete the subnet mask from each computer.
c. a router must be configured and placed between the two computers.
d. remove the hub between the two computers and replace it with a switch.

A. Nothing needs to be changed.

Explanation:

For computer A, a subnet mask of 255.255.0.0, tell us that all bits set to 1 in the mask, take part in the Network ID part of the IP Address, so in this case , the first 16 bits of the address are the Network ID.

For computer B, the subnet mask is defined using CIDR (Classless Interdomain Routing) , in the way /N, where N identifies the number of bits set to 1 in the subnet mask, which are the ones that take part in the network ID.

As in this case the subnet mask is /16, this means that the first 16 bits of the subnet mask are set to 1, which is equivalent to say that the subnet mask , in decimal notation, is as follows:

255.255.0.0.

As it can be seen, is exactly the same than for computer A, which means that both computers are within the same subnet, and can send and receive data to and from each other directly.

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